Common sense has left Malaysia

By J. D. Lovrenciear

Where are we politically? What is our current station socially? And what is our economic distribution factor and environmental score?

Politically we have been made to betray each other. Today, after 54 years of Merdeka we are constantly reminded that we are Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. Today the battle cry from various quarters – which even includes a former Statesman, is one of ‘this is our land, not yours’.

And religion is increasingly being misused as the wedge of political power brokering.

On the social frontier no one wants to talk about the drug abuse and trafficking wagon that has derailed. Rape, exploitation of cheap labour, babies flushed down the sewers or left at car parks, street crimes, -- you name it, we have it.

Arguments like ‘other countries too have such problems’ do not hold water because statistically we are a tiny nation.

We have not integrated as one nation of people at all. The fact that we have race based political parties forming coalitions to form a government for so long since independence is sufficient to confirm this truth.

Economically, despite all the oil money, every working rakyat has a loan or several loans to repay for almost his or her entire working life. This alone is good enough a barometer to establish how well off are Malaysians.

Without the government’s study loans, almost three quarter of the young would not have the means for tertiary education. And upon graduating you start repaying a debt. Simply put the government owes you nothing but you owe it all to the government. No?

Environmentally are we a flop? No? Maybe we are good at covering up our rape of the rain forest? No? Don’t be silly – we cannot have development without cutting down those hundreds of years old timber; we cannot have development without relocating the elephants and birds for we need dams. And the list is endless. After all have you ever seen a penniless timber merchant?

All of the above is common sense. But that common sense has left us a long time ago. Today we can be accused of taking a simplistic view of politics, social, economy and environment.

But what use is all the complex rationale when the very basic – COMMON SENSE, is no more our daily currency of nationhood?